H.B. No. 914
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of bingo games.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 2001.305(b) and (c), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) Immediately after issuing [receiving] a license, the
commission [a license holder] shall send a copy of the license to
the appropriate governing body. The governing body shall file the
copy of the license in a central file containing licenses issued
under this chapter.
(c) Not later than the 10th day after the date a license is
issued, the commission [license holder] shall give written notice
of the issuance of the license to:
(1) the police department of the municipality in which
bingo will be conducted, if bingo is to be conducted in a
municipality; or
(2) the sheriff of the county in which bingo will be
conducted, if bingo is to be conducted outside a municipality.
SECTION 2. Section 2001.313(h), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(h) A licensed authorized organization may employ an
individual who is not on the registry established by this section as
an operator, manager, cashier, usher, caller, or salesperson on a
provisional basis if the individual is awaiting the results of a
background check by the commission:
(1) for a period not to exceed 30 [14] days if the
individual is a resident of this state; or
(2) for a period to be established by commission rule
if the individual is not a resident of this state.
SECTION 3. Section 2001.419, Occupations Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsection (f) to
read as follows:
(d) If more than one bingo occasion is conducted at the same
premises on the same day:
(1) the bingo occasions must be announced separately;
(2) the licensed times may not overlap; and
(3) notwithstanding Subsection (e), bingo cards may be
sold during a bingo occasion for play during a subsequent bingo
occasion that is scheduled to begin at the same premises in not more
than eight hours after the sale of cards for the subsequent occasion
begins.
(e) Bingo cards, pull-tab bingo tickets, and the use of
card-minding devices [paper] for a bingo occasion may be sold at the
licensed premises at any time beginning one hour before the bingo
occasion and ending at the conclusion of the bingo occasion
[begins].
(f) If pull-tab bingo tickets are sold by one licensed
authorized organization that conducts consecutive bingo occasions
during one day, the organization may account for and report all of
the pull-tab bingo ticket sales for the occasions as sales for the
final occasion.
SECTION 4. Section 2001.451(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 2001.502(a), a [A]
licensed authorized organization shall deposit in the bingo account
all funds derived from the conduct of bingo, less the amount awarded
as cash prizes under Sections 2001.420(a) and (b). Except as
provided by Subsection (b-1), a deposit must be made not later than
the third [second] business day after the day of the bingo occasion
on which the receipts were obtained.
SECTION 5. Section 2001.502, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 2001.502. PRIZE FEE. (a) A licensed authorized
organization or unit as defined by Section 2001.431 shall:
(1) collect from a person who wins a cash bingo prize
of more than $5 a fee in the amount of five percent of the amount [or
value] of the prize; and
(2) except as otherwise provided by this section,
remit to the commission the amount of the [a] fee collected under
Subdivision (1) [in the amount of five percent of the amount or
value of all bingo prizes of more than $5 awarded].
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(2), each quarter, a
licensed authorized organization or unit that collects a prize fee
under Subsection (a) for a bingo game conducted in a county or
municipality that was entitled to receive a portion of a bingo prize
fee as of January 1, 2019, shall remit 50 percent of the amount
collected as the prize fee to the commission and:
(1) if the county or municipality in which the bingo
game is conducted voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize
fee, remit 50 percent of the amount collected as the prize fee to:
(A) the county that voted to impose the fee by
that date, provided the location at which the bingo game is
conducted is not within the boundaries of a municipality that voted
to impose the prize fee by that date;
(B) the municipality that voted to impose the fee
by that date, provided the county in which the bingo game is
conducted did not vote to impose the fee by that date; or
(C) in equal shares, the county and the
municipality, provided each voted to impose the fee before that
date; or
(2) if neither the county or municipality in which the
bingo game is conducted voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the
prize fee, deposit the remainder of the amount collected as the
prize fee in the general charitable fund of the organization or on a
pro rata basis to the general funds of the organizations comprising
the unit, as applicable, to be used for the charitable purposes of
the organization or organizations.
(c) The governing body of a county or municipality that
voted to impose a prize fee under Subsection (b)(1) may at any time
vote to discontinue the imposition of the fee. If a county or
municipality votes on or after November 1, 2019, to discontinue the
fee, the fees to which the county or municipality, as applicable,
was entitled before the vote shall be collected by the licensed
authorized organization or unit as defined by Section 2001.431 and
deposited as provided by Subsection (b)(2).
(d) A fee collected under Subsection (a) does not apply to:
(1) a merchandise prize awarded as a prize for winning
a bingo game, including a bingo card, a pull-tab bingo ticket, a
bingo dauber, or other bingo merchandise; or
(2) the use of a card-minding device awarded as a prize
for winning a bingo game.
SECTION 6. Section 2001.504(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A fee on prizes authorized or imposed under this
subchapter is due and is payable by the license holder or a person
conducting bingo without a license to the commission and county or
municipality, as applicable, quarterly on or before the 25th day of
the month succeeding each calendar quarter.
SECTION 7. The heading to Section 2001.507, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2001.507. COLLECTION AND DEPOSIT [DISBURSEMENT] OF
PRIZE FEE.
SECTION 8. Section 2001.507, Occupations Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) The commission shall deposit the revenue collected from
the fee on prizes imposed by Section 2001.502 to the credit of [a
special account in] the general revenue fund.
(a-1) The revenue collected by the commission from the fee
on prizes imposed by Section 2001.502 is considered miscellaneous
revenue for purposes of appropriations made to the commission under
the General Appropriations Act for the administration of this
chapter.
SECTION 9. Section 404.073(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Interest that has been and that will be accrued or
earned from deposits made under a law to which this subsection
applies is state funds not subject to allocation or distribution to
taxing units, cities, or transportation authorities under that law.
This subsection applies to:
(1) Section 205.02, Alcoholic Beverage Code;
(2) [Section 2001.507, Occupations Code;
[(3)] Section 403.105(d) of this code;
(3) [(4)] Sections 321.501 and 321.504, Tax Code;
(4) [(5)] Sections 322.301 and 322.304, Tax Code; and
(5) [(6)] Sections 323.501 and 323.504, Tax Code.
SECTION 10. The following provisions of the Occupations
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 2001.103(a-1);
(2) Section 2001.104;
(3) Section 2001.313(b-3);
(4) Section 2001.437(i);
(5) Section 2001.503; and
(6) Sections 2001.507(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g),
(h), and (i).
SECTION 11. (a) A county or municipality may receive a
portion of the prize fee collected under Section 2001.502,
Occupations Code, as amended by this Act, after the effective date
of this Act only if:
(1) the county or municipality was entitled to receive
a portion of a bingo prize fee as of January 1, 2019; and
(2) the governing body of the county or municipality:
(A) by majority vote of the members of the
governing body approves the continued receipt of funds under that
section and notifies the Texas Lottery Commission of that decision
not later than November 1, 2019; and
(B) notifies each licensed authorized
organization within the county's or municipality's jurisdiction, as
applicable, of the continued imposition of the fee.
(b) Not later than October 1, 2019, the Texas Lottery
Commission shall notify the governing body of a county or
municipality that was entitled to receive a portion of the prize fee
collected under Section 2001.502, Occupations Code, as that section
existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, of the
requirements for continued receipt of the prize fee under that
section as provided in Subsection (a) of this section.
SECTION 12. Section 2001.305, Occupations Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to an authorized organization license or a
commercial lessor license that is issued under Chapter 2001,
Occupations Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. An
authorized organization license or a commercial lessor license
issued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 13. (a) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection
(b) of this section, this Act takes effect January 1, 2020.
(b) The following provisions take effect September 1, 2019:
(1) Section 2001.502(c), Occupations Code, as added by
this Act;
(2) Section 2001.507(a), Occupations Code, as amended
by this Act; and
(3) Section 2001.507(a-1), Occupations Code, as added
by this Act.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 914 was passed by the House on April
30, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 137, Nays 8, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 914 on May 24, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 102, Nays 37,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 914 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor